Career Satisfaction: What is in your way?

“Not enough time”, “Not enough support from others”, “Lack of ideas”, topped the list for my survey question: “What is in your way of having more satisfaction from your career”. All these seem correct and expected. It would be wonderful if these external factors of time and support were resolved so you and I could flourish. But alas, the sad truth – “We cannot choose our external circumstances” has already been revealed by Epictetus, a Greek philosopher 2000 years ago. I guess he actually wanted to say that sometimes we can choose but not always.

So what is the big deal about it? The deal is, if I desperately want to have more satisfaction/joy/fulfillment, if it keeps me up at night, I can’t afford to console myself saying – “I can’t choose my external circumstances”! I can tell, I was there only a few years ago. So here is an idea for those who feel that “lack of ideas” could be a cause.

We learned in high school algebra, if something is constant (the external factors in this case) then we need to work on the variable part (that we can change). The same philosopher gentleman above also said, “We can always choose how we respond to them.” Our choice to respond is the variable part! You may wonder what makes Epictetus the authority who lived around 2000 years ago! He has no clue what you are I are dealing with – the insensitive boss, the rude co-worker, the whimsical client and not to mention the economy.

Tom, a client of mine wanted to give it a try. Instead of chasing after the performance review feedback by working extra hard he took the time to come up with his own vision (with some outside help:)). I let him think about – “what is that I want to be when I grow up”-“what makes me excited internally” – “what lights up my heart”. Once he let go of the next promotion/recognition, his vision expanded to a much bigger scope -Being a leader, Solving deep technical challenges with a team of talented people. As he came back to the present reality, he started to see his existing team as that team of talented individuals. His approach shifted from reactive to creative, fighting defensively to collaborating openly. Later on he said it was more calming when he changed his own mindset – shifting his perspective. Others in his team noticed it; his manager saw the difference in the results, promotion and recognition followed. All of this happened in only a few months.

Last week I asked the same question, “What is in your way” to a room full of hard core engineers and tech professionals. A young woman raised her hand – in a very soft but thoughtful voice she uttered “I am in my way, my limiting perspective is blocking me to get more satisfaction from my career”. Deep inside I know it is only the beginning for her for a more fulfilling career and a happier life.

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When I met Sharmin, I was grieving the loss of my old project and overwhelmed with the scope of the new project I inherited – one that I had no passion for, but felt an obligation to my employees and team to help transition into the team. I knew I needed a change, but had trepidation about how to even begin the process of finding a job outside of my organization or company.
I wanted a quick fix – a pep talk to motivate me to get over my fears and get a better job as soon as possible. Sharmin made me look my career and life at a higher level. She challenged me to explore and identify my values. Once I had mapped out exactly what my core values were, in both my life and my career, she helped me identify the instances in my career where I was truly living my core values, when I was truly being my authentic self, and when and where I had a true sense of fulfillment and happiness.
Her holistic approach to coaching opened my eyes. Through these new lenses of my values and my higher self, I gained clarity about the type of job, and the type of people, I really wanted to work with to achieve true happiness. Since we began our sessions, I’ve had profound changes internally and externally:
I was promoted; I gave up the role of manager which I found unfulfilling, and refocused on my role as a software engineer; I left my old team and found a new organization where I feel my values and those of my management and peers are closely aligned; and I’ve become closer to my family and my loved ones.

Principal SW Engineering Lead - Microsoft

Thank you for taking the time to share your insights with us. In particular, I really like your advice to think of our goals in terms of being outcome based, which helps me think more concretely in terms of what I really want. It is also nice to be reminded that there are a lot of factors that contributes to our happiness, work and family is just a part of the happiness pie.

S. Chan
Microsoft

Sharmin is an excellent executive coach and I would recommend her to anyone looking to engage in leadership development. She helped me discover my career intention, which resulted in an accelerated path to a leadership role over a five-month period. Her coaching methodology is focused on professional and personal development, which is key to be an effective leader in today's business climate.

D. Nibberich
Senior Director- Technical Sales

Sharmin helped me reshape my thought process and approach to managing people and issues on a daily basis. Sharmin has also shown me the value of dedicating time to focus on being intentional and including all supporting team members in the journey. This has allowed me to leverage the collective group when trying to achieve goals. I would recommend Sharmin as a career coach to anyone that wants to take their career to next level.